Best trails in Tongariro National Park
Tongariro National Park is a legendary National Park. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage area and a place of great significance to Māori. It's a volcanic park with unique lunar landscapes, old craters, lakes, waterfalls, and steaming hot pools. This park is home to the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing, often called the World's Greatest Day Hike. Enjoy the tracks as you explore the park.
Top trails
Trail reviews for Tongariro National Park
We took a round trip shuttle from Tongariro National Park Town, which was less expensive ($50-60 NZD) and more convenient than spotting a car at the end and taking one way shuttle to trailhead. The trek was as expected, if not a bit easier due to the very well maintained trails. In total, we hiked about 12.5 miles with almost 2,800 feet of elevation gain. We had “four seasons”, mostly in-and-out of the clouds on the south side, and mostly sunny on the north side of the range.
We heard a lot of warnings about visiting New Zealand in the winter and nowhere more so than Tongariro with people recommending a guide who could provide crampons etc for the snowy conditions. We knew Tongariro might not be feasible, but the forecast held out through late May and we couldn't have been happier. We didn't see any snow along the way and the worst conditions were on the climb up to Red Crater, which had strong gusts of wind. The trail wasn't very crowded because it was late in the season and we got some great views to ourselves despite a some clouds rolling in and then blowing away. We hadn't experienced scenery like it anywhere else and really enjoyed the variety, from the hills on the climb up to the crater and lake views and the forest at the finish. It took us about 6 hours start to finish, without rushing, but also without a lot of breaks.
The two lakes at the end are just average, but the scenery along the way is super beautiful and you can clearly see Tongariro and Ruapehu. The two lakes at the end are just average, but the scenery along the way is super beautiful. You can clearly see Tongariro and Ruapehu.
Very easy and short, not dangerous at all. There was almost no snow and I saw the tongariro well. I liked it
Initially planned to Walk to Soda springs. Super easy. Took about an 1.5hours. Pretty flat. Well marked and mainly a track: could do it in trainers. As we got there in quite good time we went on an extra 1.5h to the top of red crater. Much harder and steeper climb. Stairs at first which were nice: and then the final ascent we were cloud covered, got very steep and muddy. We didn’t get great views at the top but well worth it if you’re going to Tongariro in winter and want to to hike up to the highest point and then back to the car park in about 5ish hours.
Easy short walk from end car park of the Tongariro Crossing, Lookout for sidetrack when you hear waterfall, no sign marking turnoff, just a little post in the ground. Best time to go is out of great walks season as there will be less trampers and more parks available.